John
Forfar, its medical officer, was continuously in the thick of the action as 47 Royal Marine Commando
played their distinguished part in World War II in Europe. 47’s battle engagements included the D-Day
capture of Port-en-Bessin, vital to the British Army’s petrol supply; participation in the defence of
the Orme bridgehead, and the ultimate break-out, harassing the retreating enemy as it swept northwards
in a series of headlong battles along 300 miles of the French and Belgian coasts. It took triumphant
part in one of the most formidably opposed seaborne landings of the war against the ‘Atlantic Wall’ at
Walcheren at the mouth of the Scheldt, and attacked a fanatically defended island on the Maas.

A medical officer is ideally placed to describe the reality of frontline battle with its intense fears
and physical dangers, the stresses it imposes on body and mind, its killing and wounding, its triumphs
and its tribulations, its aftermath. John Forfar saw the deeds of courage and the determination of the
commandos at every level. He tells also of the historical significance of the Commando’s actions, which
the passage of time has revealed, and something of the experiences of the oppressed populations they
liberated, as well as the dramas of inhumanity and false witness which are the common currency of war.